A Fighting Chance
by Dawn1000
Summary: The chronicling of Arie Tamara Jahad's life, including the friends she made, the people she cared for, and those whom she lost, all tied together by the undeniable force of her love.


_**I read ToG with the LINE translation, so some names will be different. (Ex: Zahard will be Jahad). Also, when I wrote this, Season 2 of Tower of God wasn't over yet, and I also had no idea how old some of the characters were. That being said, I hope you can look past that and enjoy this one-shot.**_

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Tamara is fifteen when she's chosen as a Jahad Princess.

It takes her half a year to stop thinking of herself as an Arie.

When she is seventeen, she begins to climb the Tower.

They say she is too young.

When Tamara is twenty-five, she meets Anaak Jahad for the fist time.

Her sister destroys her on the battlefield.

Humiliated, she vows vengeance fervently.

When Tamara is thirty, they meet again.

This time, they draw. When the younger Jahad is thirty-two, she reaches to Floor of Death.

They whisper that even with her power, she will meet her end there.

Five years later, she conquers the Hell Train.

The entire Tower is shocked.

At fifty, Tamara sees her birth father again on the hundredth floor.

Their ties are finally severed.

At fifty four, she meets Khun Maschenny Jahad.

The siblings clash fiercely.

A year later, they form a team.

When Tamara is sixty, she comes across Anaak again.

This time, she wins their battle.

Anaak joins her team.

When Tamara is ninety, she reaches the top of the Tower.

They dub her a prodigy.

When she is ninety-five she begins to notice the looks of awe she receives.

Ten years later, Luminous June is hers.

The Arie roar in approval at her triumph.

At a hundred and ten, a pang of nostalgia runs through her; she still looks the same as when she began her climb.

When Tamara is a hundred and thirty-seven, she becomes ranked in the top one hundred.

Anaak and Maschenny are so proud.

At a hundred and forty, Tamara finally admits to herself that she loves her sisters- well, these two at least.

The realization terrifies her.

Five years later, Anaak is ambushed and nearly killed by FUG members.

Maschenny and Tamara slaughter them all.

When Tamara is a hundred and sixty, Anaak is awarded with the Green April.

Maschenny murders one of their sisters for the Yellow May.

She comes face-to-face with Garam Jahad nine years later.

They become friends easily.

_"A dangerous combination" _people hiss warily.

They are right to be worried.

Along with Anaak and Maschenny, they form a new team.

For the next fifty years, they are nearly unstoppable.

At two hundred and nineteen Tamara is still seen as a child.

She curses her teen aged appearance and the traditions of the Tower.

Her sisters tease her about it endlessly.

When she is two hundred and fifty-six, she is in the Tower's top fifty.

She feels as if she's leaving the others behind.

It hurts to think that way.

A hundred years pass and Tamara becomes the Royal Assassins' Chief.

Gray streaks begin to line her silver-white hair.

Anaak has started to playfully call her "Old Harpy" to which Tamara replies: _"I'm younger than you, Lizard."_

Garam always laughs at their arguments while Maschenny rolls her eyes.

Garam, too, has made a place for herself in Tamara's heart.

Her love for her sisters is boundless.

_"That team is inseparable," _people say.

And again, they are right.

Tamara notices when she is four hundred that Garam has been acting strange.

She knows why, of course; everyone does.

Eurasia Anne Jahad, their elder sister and Garam's idol, has lost her mind.

Three years later Garam changes.

Tamara isn't sure how yet, but the haunted look in the other woman's eyes frightens her.

Seven years after that, Garam disappears without a word.

A part of her breaks and their team is never the same.

She starts to hate her sister.

_"Perhaps they are not so united," _poisonous words drip.

But this time she hates that they are right.

Five years after Garam leaves, Tamara, Maschenny and three of their sisters face Anne.

Jahad himself has to help.

Unie and Rebekka die and Tamara returns the former's White February to their father the King.

Despite not knowing either of them well, both were still her sisters and Tamara mourns for them.

She feels no grief when Anne is sealed away.

Twenty years later, when she is four hundred and thirty-five, the pain Garam has inflicted is still raw.

Maschenny becomes colder and Anaak begins to distance herself.

Tamara can't stand it.

One day, she snaps.

The incident leaves chaos and destruction in its wake.

To her though, it's worth it; she has her sisters back.

Their bonds are strong again.

For the next seventy years, nothing can break them.

But when Tamara is five hundred and five, something shifts; Anaak has been hiding something.

It makes her nervous.

The last person who changed like this left.

She will not utter her name.

Two years later Tamara encounters Ha Yuri Jahad.

The girl is a genius, even among the princesses, and has just become a ranker.

She likes her instantly.

She knows it's not wise; in the Tower, she shouldn't open her heart so freely.

She can't help it.

Slowly, Yuri begins to heal the gaping hole that Garam left behind.

It's ripped open again when Tamara hears the news; Anaak has taken a lover and fled.

She is pregnant.

Tamara will be an aunt, but her sister has betrayed her.

Two of her siblings have left her behind now.

Who will be next?

Maschenny?

Yuri?

Her heart aches.

Maschenny's fury is palpable, crippling even.

When Tamara is chosen by their father to track down and kill Anaak, she accepts.

She may her love her sister, but she abandoned her.

They fought, bled, and killed together.

She even allowed Anaak to wield her sword, Tempest!

For someone of the Arie, that is a sign of complete trust and faith.

But Anaak has thrown that all away and Tamara knows what she must do.

Duty before love, after all.

She is loyal, she tells herself.

After ten years, she finds her sister, brother-in-law, and little niece.

She kills the husband, full of hatred,

This man is partially responsible for this entire mess!

Anaak screams as her husband's body falls.

Tamara turn to her sister, but falters.

She curses herself furiously; she cannot bring her blade down upon her sister- her best friend!

So when she sees Yuri's guide whisk her little niece away, she lets him go.

And after Lo Po Bia Ren slays her sister, Tamara leaves before anyone can see her tears.

Her little niece looks so much like Anaak.

Maybe that's why she let her go; she can't bear to lose her sister twice.

Two hundred years pass.

More gray lines her hair, although she is still physically a teen.

This time, however, there is a difference.

This time, there's no one to call her "Old Harpy".

When Tamara is seven hundred and thirty-eight, Yuri finally speaks up.

_"You can't go on like this!" _she says.

Tamara's bottled up emotions all come rushing out.

If not for Maschenny, she might have killed their sister.

Horrified, she pushes everyone around her away.

It takes another century for her to open up again.

(When she does, Yuri and Maschenny hold tight and don't ever let go)

Working together- one of the rare times they do so, the two slowly mend Tamara's heart.

It's a long, hard process that takes another thirty years, but they manage.

She'll never be the happy- go- lucky person she once was, but she's not a broken husk anymore either.

When Tamara is nine hundred and eleven, the Black March is gifted to Yuri.

The pride Tamara feels is similar to that of when Anaak received Green April.

To her surprise, there's only a dull pain in her chest at the thought of her sister.

Tentatively, the princess allows her mind to drift to Garam.

The same thing happens.

The corners of Tamara's mouth twitch up.

She's moving on.

Her steps feel light again.

By the time she is a thousand, she has grown tired of living by the same old routine.

She walks straight up to a FUG headquarters in challenge.

The thrill of battle will never grow old to her.

When she is a thousand and five, Yuri takes off on some grand adventure, promising to keep in touch.

Tamara feels a pang of sadness.

The bird has left the nest it seems.

But her baby sister is powerful- always has been.

She doesn't need protection.

Still, Tamara worries.

Later, she learns that Yuri acquired Green April from their niece.

Tamara starts to wonder just how much else has been going on that she isn't aware of.

In her rage, she kills the poor messenger.

Strangely enough, the princess is unaffected by this.

She asks herself how long it's been since she stopped caring about getting the blood of innocents on her hands.

Two years later, the the civil war between the Jahad Family, FUG, and the Po Bidau Family breaks out.

Yuri aids a Slayer Candidate and Tamara makes her choice.

Damn this Tower to hell.

It has taken and taken and _taken _from her.

She will not lose anyone else.

The original Tamara, the young one who believed that she and her sisters were invincible is dead.

So is her successor, a tired, battered old warrior.

From their ashes emerges a new version of her, who will stop at nothing to achieve her goals.

And as of now, she only wants to protect Yuri and Maschenny.

So this new princess marches off to war and slays enemy after enemy, but not in the name of Jahad, or of the Arie, or even herself, but in the names of her sisters.

And as she lays bleeding on the battlefield, surrounded by the corpses of those she has slain, she smiles.

It does not matter if she dies.

All that matters is that Yuri and Maschenny live.

That is her last thought before she slips into the merciful embrace of death.

To her surprise, Anaak greets her on the other side.

They are slightly awkward around one another, the hunter and the hunted, but they wait together for the rest of their team to arrive.

To both Tamara's delight and torment, it takes a long time for them to reunite.

First is Garam, then Maschenny, and, finally, their new addition, Yuri.

And, once again surrounded by her sisters, Tamara is sure of one thing:

They will never be perfect, and it will be almost impossible to rebuild burnt bridges, but they have all overcome terrible odds before.

The princess feels her heart lift with hope.

They can make this work.

The five of them stand a fighting chance.


End file.
